HiFL 2019: Collegiate Football Returns Bigger And Better

The Nigerian sports industry will once again witness the
2019 edition of Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL®), an innovative
collegiate football league organized by PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing
in partnership with Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA). This season
promises to be more exciting considering the energy the organisers have put into
it.

Disclosing the readiness of the organisers, Director, PACE
Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Mr. Sola Fijabi said recently in Lagos that
all is now set for a bigger, better and more exciting 2019 HiFL® season,
building on the successes recorded in the maiden edition in 2018.

According to him, “The 2019 season promises so much
excitement. We are accommodating more schools and expanding engagements across
board. We have concluded plans to take the Nigerian team made up of the best
players from the 2018 season to Naples, Italy for the World University Games
(FISU). We are proud of the role the league is playing in enhancing youth
development in Nigeria. Already, two of the outstanding talents from the 2018
season are on the books of professional football teams in Nigeria. We thank
Stanbic IBTC and PZ Cussons for their support of this noble initiative, while
we look forward to other sponsors. Our objective is to place collegiate sports
in Nigeria on the same pedestal as their counterparts in other countries and
build a strong ecosystem of young, home-grown football talents that may become
invaluable for future national engagement”

This disclosure by Fijabi has been described by experts as a necessary impetus needed by brands and organizations to buy into the HiFL® and also make their impact known in alleviating poverty and contributing to the development of grassroots sports in Nigeria.

Essentially, it is believed that HiFL® which is the first
organised private sector-led collegiate football league in the country will
create immense opportunity for various brands as the biggest platform for
optimal visibility with increase in market shares across many higher
institutions in the country. Interestingly, what will make the league
spectacular is the live coverage broadcast partners like Super Sports and other
broadcast media will render to showcase abundant talents, exhibiting acrobatic
and football artistry in the nation’s Universities.

No doubt, the coverage will also create marketing strategy
for brands and other organisations that will partner with the organisers to
showcase their offering across the University campuses in the country.

Over the years, empirical evidences have shown that
sponsorship is everything in football and brands are in a pole position to grab
this opportunity by collaborating with HiFL® because brands are critical to
creating business value, and the sports business is no exception. Strong brands
command customer loyalty and premium prices, constituting valuable assets that
drive company’s revenue and growth. They are central to many sports business
transactions, especially sponsorship deals and product merchandising. In
addition, at the heart of branding lies trademarks.

It will be recalled that, after several years of lull in the
collegiate sports in the country, PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing in
partnership with Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) set the ball
rolling with the qualifiers among Nigerian Universities in July 2018. Though
the maiden edition took off with both private and government Universities only,
the organisers are working on 32 teams modality for the 2019 edition.

In the last edition of HiFL® Games, matches were held from
July 28, 2018, to October 27, 2018 with universities, zoned into the Atlantic
Conference (South) and the Savannah Conference (North) for reasons of proximity
and effective administration.

The breakdown of the HiFL® shows that there was a total of
30 games in 14 weeks after a set of qualifying rounds among 79 universities. 16
universities played intra-conference return legs elimination matches with 8
teams from the Atlantic (South) and another 8 teams in Savannah (North) while
matches of the four-team league were played in Lagos.

The climax of the HiFL® last year was the final match which
was held as scheduled on Saturday November 3rd 2018 at Agege Stadium in Lagos
between University of Calabar and University of Agriculture Markurdi

At the end of the match, highflying University of
Agriculture, Makurdi (Tillers) defeated University of Calabar (Malabites) by
5-4 penalty shootout to win the maiden Higher Institutions Football League
(HIFL).

The exciting game ended goalless at full time and the winner
had to emerge through the penalty shootouts where UAM emerged victorious after
the pulsating five kicks each.

Before the final match, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU)
defeated the University of Ilorin Warriors 3-1 to win the third place match.

Agencies Behind HiFL®

Like the 2018 edition, quite a number of A-list agencies are
also working towards the success of 2019 edition of HiFL®. Through the efforts
of these various agencies HiFL® has become a toast of football enthusiasts who
have accepted and followed it with great passion. Like these agencies, football
lovers all over the country see HiFL® as a baby that must be supported and grow
to put the nation’s collegiate games on the global map.

PACE Sports

As Nigeria’s leading passion-based marketing company, PACE
Sports and Entertainment Marketing came to the fore by spearheading the HiFL®
2018 season as owners and organizers. The agency largely achieved this notable
feat by envisioning, insights, strategic partnerships and adoption of global
best practices which enabled different agencies to buy into the lofty idea.

Clearly, from all indications, PACE is proving not to rest
on its oars as it is working day in day out to record more successes than the
achievements of the first edition. Due
to its efforts and never-say-die spirit to bring collegiate football to an
enviable position, many football lovers have been giving kudos to PACE,
describing it as a game changer whose name has been written in gold in terms of
what it did to the development of football in Nigerian Universities and the
country as a whole.

For the 2019 HiFL® season, the second edition, PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing is putting in more energy and building on the successes recorded in the previous League season. The agency is also perfecting strategies to engage more brands to scale activities and deliver mutual value at the grassroots and also to brand bottom-lines.

Also worthy of note is that, prior to the maiden edition,
the firm put in over two years of planning and strategy to stage a befitting
football league for Universities in Nigeria. No wonder, this can-do spirit exhibited
by the firm is attracting more clients to its family and it is also fast
becoming a leading sports and entertainment marketing company with a knack for
connecting brands with the passions of their audiences. The firm believes that
passion puts everything and everyone a step ahead with precision and speed
which is why, at PACE, they only leads projects that they, their clients and their audiences are
passionate about.

Despite being in its second year, HiFL® has remained a
reference point in Nigerian football, kudos to PACE which has taken it upon
itself to stage the annual football competition designed for higher
institutions in Nigeria particularly Universities to showcase campus football
talents. Through this effort also, the league is being described as one of the
most extensive in coverage and reach in the history of collegiate competitions
on the continent.

Beyond any reasonable doubt, the agency recognizes that
passion-based marketing remains the most effective tool to reach, engage and
convert, which the firm is using to position HiFL®. Also beyond ideation, the
company spots and spurs trends that inform its clients’ marketing strategies
across sports and entertainment. The scope of services also includes Research
& Insights, Sponsorship Portfolio Analysis and Management, Rights
Management, Communication, Hospitality, Merchandising and Distribution.

Through the efforts of PACE, the 2019 edition of HiFL®
continues to be a game changer in collegiate sports with its versatile
game-changing team of cross-industry professionals with expertise and
relationships across sports, influencers, powerful media, movie studios, TV
networks and corporate power brokers will help to create big ideas and execute
effective engagement strategies for the league.

With international partnerships and recognitions, and plans
underway to introduce sporting competitions in Basketball, Volleyball and
Athletics, PACE remains committed to optimizing viable opportunities in sports
and entertainment for the good of the young and the brands that are keen on
engaging them.

With the agency’s understanding of speed and momentum, it
will enable it to empower HiFL® in the quest for effective reach for
sponsorship, engagement and conversion; and like all-star performers in sports
and entertainment, its drive in building on consistent and strong performances
to deliver world class collegiate leagues is next to none.

Brooks+Blake

One of the agencies that contributed immensely to the
success of HiFL® is Brooks + Blake, a firm that is committed to positioning
perception management across Africa.

The story of HiFL® will not be complete without the mention
of Brooks + Blake (B+B), an independent perception management and consulting
firm that has contributed enormously to the growth of the industry in West
Africa and Africa at large. The company came on board in the last edition and
was saddled with the responsibility to handle the perception and PR consultancy
for Nigeria’s first collegiate football league, HiFL®.

This year also, Brooks+Blake will also drive perception and
PR consultancy service for the 2019 HiFL®. As an expert in this business, the
agency is believed to be in best position to handle this year’s perception and
PR services for the 2019 collegiate football.

Like its contributions to the success of HiFL®, Brooks+Blake
is passionately committed to positioning all other clients as leaders in their
areas of specialty as well as enhancing the visibility and profitability of
clients’ businesses.

Interestingly at B+B, the core value is to carve a niche by
constantly sustaining the premise that the firm can be better without
necessarily comparing it with other public relations firm. However, while it is important to take note
of what competitors are doing, the agency is more tuned to being better than
the last time it had a project or a brief. That is one of the characteristics
that PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing has seen in the firm to retain it
in projecting the image of HiFL® positively.

Apart from what B+B is doing to promote HiFL®, generally,
the agency’s vision is to be a leading marketing communication consulting firm
with a reputation for driving exceptional and transformational client results
across African markets.

This is in line with its mission to provide the best
marketing solutions and experiences with a measurable impact on its clients
businesses, using relevant technology and its people while adopting world’s
best-proven practices.

Brooks + Blake will consults for HiFL® by carrying out analytical research using cutting edge research tools and auditing methodologies, in line with international best practices, to achieve more robust insights and unlock business growth for it.

It will be recalled that, through sheer commitment and
tireless dedication, the firm has continued to record success upon
success. This is based on core
principles of hard work, professionalism and partnership. Based on experience,
the agency will also take time to understand HiFL® issues and challenges,
design customized communication plans and executes with precision.

Brooks + Blake hopes to continue expanding its services to
other markets in the near future beyond its existing hubs in West and Central
Africa in order to achieve cross-cultural integration while creating an opportunity
for exchange of business ideas. The company hopes to continue to grow its
people and processes in the hope that the agency will become a point of
reference and gain top-of-the-mind awareness among brands in search of
perception management services in Nigeria and beyond.

IBST Media

Similarly, IBST Media was the technical partner (Production)
to the first edition of HiFL®, and the impact of the Nigeria’s leading media
group was massive as the organization put in a touch of excellence and
professionalism.

IBST which was founded on an unshakable foundation of
marketing acumen, vision, cinematic creativity, storytelling and technology is
still in a pole position this year to further contribute meaningfully to the
second edition of HiFL®. This means, IBST Media will provide a bespoke service
back up with creativity.

With its over 15 years of experience, IBST Media has been
putting Nigeria on the global map as one of the countries recognized for its
quality video production and contents, and the organization is ready to deploy
all these technical know-hows into the coverage of HiFL®. It is certain that as
time passes with technology advancement, video production has improved from the
era of big facilities to smaller devices; same evolution has occurred in the
life of the company according to the management, it has evolved with time and
continues to remain relevant.

From the north, east, west and south, IBST Media ranks above
other competitors, hence, its continuation to handle one of the most important
aspect of HiFL®.

With its last year’s work with HiFL®, this year, IBST Media
will bring in new innovation of making each and every production tailor-made
for HiFL®, expressing the message with
crystal clarity, and packaged in an aesthetic that satisfies the unique
sensibilities.

IBST is a team-centered organization, where it engages with
each other and its clients to get the best ideas. It is these ideas, concepts
and innovation, which form it approach to the project that is remarkably
synergistic. This team-centered approach means that they are intensely focused
on collaborative relationships, and working together towards the same goals.

At IBST Media, clients are part of the team and are not just
new members of the greater team; but part of a club that believes in winning
and delivering great products, and working with these “team members” greatly
produces content and videos that will service their specific goals.

In addition to these hardworking, highly skilled and
professional crews, from Producers, Directors, DOP’s, Art Directors, Camera
Operators, Production Managers, and other technicians and artisans, IBST has a
veritable pool of technical resources
that will help make HiFL® this year an eventful edition.

Noteworthy is the availability of diverse range of cameras
and accessories to meet any type of production raging from Arri, Sony, Canon
and Black Magic HD, 2k, and 4k Cameras.
This is also supported by an extensive range of Lighting equipment, grip
and accessories from HMI’s, Kinoflos, Tungsten and specialty lighting for any
type of production. There are also two
UK trained Drone Pilots who are able to fly any DJI Drone such as the Inspire
or Phantom, which invariably the company possesses.

Tribes Marketing

Interestingly, Tribes Marketing, a fully-fledged
experiential and marketing communication firm; peopled by highly creative minds
and individuals from a broad section of learning backgrounds, who are focused
on delivering uncommon value and exceptional results in the marketing
communications industry was also part of successes the organizer recorded in
the inaugural Higher Institutions Football League organized for the University
students across the country.

Right from the beginning to the end of the league, the experiential agency put in its fresh perspectives and impetus to deliver compelling ideas, assets, solutions for HiFL®.

Some of the agency’s credentials in projecting many of its
brands positively have also qualified it again to be sign on by the organizer
of HiFL® to continue from where it stopped last year.

Apart from its contributions to the success of HiFL®, the
experiential marketing agency leverages a cross- pollination of technology,
instincts, talents and global bench marks to carry out any of its assignments.

Tribes Marketing is a client and brand focused full-fledged
marketing communication concern (concern) driven by the desire to do more than
the ordinary to achieve new levels of result experiences.

The agency’s service footprint and offering include,
Ideation and concept development, strategy, experiential solutions and
execution, activations, distribution and Research. It was not a surprise
therefore that 2018 HiFL® was the best organized collegiate game in the country
in recent years.

Tribes Marketing prides itself in providing innovative
marketing solution. According to the agency’s mission statement, Tribes
marketing is focused on becoming the experiential solutions clearing house for
clients and businesses with the desire and passion for achieving exceptional
results and impact.

Essentially, the agency holds firmly to the belief that
creativity is distinct and uncompromising and is spurred by a willingness to do
more than the ordinary in the quest for excellence.

Tribes Marketing, a fast growing below-the-line (BTL)
advertising agency, is a one-stop-shop that has proven competence in bridging
the gap between consumers and brands. The agency delivers compelling values
beyond the ordinary for brand and clients

Among its core values are professionalism, innovation,
cooperation/partnership and integrity which have positioned it in a vantage
position as the go-to agency for brand building activities such as sales
promotion, digital and field marketing, in-stores and marketing research as
well as property development and event marketing, to positively project the
image of brands to consumers.

Clearly, a major attribute that has been working in favour
of the agency is that Tribes Marketing leverages the power of deep/compelling
insights driven by the understanding of the order and direction of things and
the opportunity to craft a new and refreshing paradigm.

Interestingly, these innovations have helped the agency a
lot in the area of winning quite a number of clients in its few years of
operation. For instance, through dint of hard work and dedication, the agency
has attracted clients who have confidence in the workability of its creative
ideas and its excellent delivery. Few of the clients the company has worked
for, FrieslandCampina, Pecadomo, Kewalram, PACE Sports and Entertainment
Marketing (PSEM), Ekopolitan, Lagos State Government (LASG), Firestone,
Bridgestone

It is also worthy of note that more and more brands have
continued to recognise the efficacy of innovative ideas of Tribes Marketing,
and this will go a long way to further project the image of the agency
positively to brands within and outside of the country.

Being a digital marketing and communications agency based in Lagos but serving a global audience, Radartrail projected HiFL® with arrow piercing digital communication and online media buying strategies by playing a key role in fronting the communication mandate of the game with accurate data.

Like the fantastic job the agency did to create awareness
for HiFL®, RadarTrail has the capacity to connect audience across multiple
touch points by leveraging on data, strategy, content, media and technology to
position the brand appropriately.

The agency pride itself in the ability to deliver a bespoke solution no matter the brief, with its ‘out of the box’ digital competence to help brand develops a winning strategy that maximizes its effectiveness. The agency also minimizes the time and money required to achieve goals by using unrivalled state of the art technology. Radartrail also delivers ‘Growth and Perception led ‘Brand Management and ORM.

The agency also boasts of footprint and third-party fans
that provide a two-way communication channel for the brand and its customers
while serving as a vehicle for positioning as the champion of its niche.

Radartrail provides ‘Performance driven’ Digital Marketing.
That means, whether the brand is looking for more visibility, site traffic,
leads, sales, followership, engagements or email open rates, the keyword for
the agency is quality and more.

In its few years of operation in the Nigerian market,
Radartrail has performed beyond industry expectation with its heart catching
asset design and development.

The agency is proud to be a digital marketing solution
partner to client in all sector of the economy as it consistently reveal the
unseen and untapped goldmine in footprints and social conversations of the
brand and competition which can be used for research, product design or for the
next campaign.

All these are as a result of the agency’s core value which
include Partnership, Innovation and
Experience.

As a result of it expertise and excellent delivery,
Radartrail has attracted many clients to its family. Top among them include,
Cadbury, Mtn, EiE, HiFL, Unilever, Tek Experts, Tumbletots, GSK, Guinness, Wow
wallpaper.

Rocketshop

Like other agencies, Rocketshop also added it expertise to the success of the first edition of HiFL®game in 2018. As a value creation laboratory, the agency employed the use of technology and innovation to project HiFL® positively.

Through its contribution to the success of the game,
Rocketshop announced itself as a value creation laboratory where solutions
people who are tired of the substandard offerings of the
marketing/communication industry gather to create value using technology and innovation
as tools.

Essentially, to achieve the laudable feat, Rocketshop
harnessed its latent potentials of innovative minds to create mutual value for
the game.

Right from the time the agency opened shop, its mission has
being to harnessing the power of innovation, technology and deep human insight
to unearth unconventional but effective marketing and communication solutions.
The agency has not deviated from its mission and the agency has been
relentlessly harnessing the power of imagination to challenge the status quo
and find value in unexpected places in order to become a solution seeker.

At Rocketshop, the product offering include Marketing and innovative strategy, Branding and Designs, Communication. The agency is also known for it uses of unconventional solutions for the unconventional value seeker.

Knowing-full well that today’s marketing communication is
driven by media, the agency has positioned itself above its competitors in the
industry by harnessing consumers and technology to drive the marketing/communication
solutions in its offering.

As a marketing innovation agency offering marketing and
communication solutions to clients and consumers, the agency’s core brand
attribute of Innovation, Integrity, Grit and Intelligence has been playing a
great role in positioning it as a go to agency in the industry.

Some of the clients that are already in the current
portfolio of the agency are Iphone Nigeria, Cadbury, GZ Nigeria,
#Naturalsupplies.

Conclusion

It is instructive to say that the contributions of all these
agencies to the success of the first edition of collegiate league called HiFL®
cannot be overemphasized as they put all their human and material resources,
back up with global best practices to stage a standard league for numerous
talents abounds in the Nigerian Universities. Remarkably, as 2019 HiFL® gathers
momentum many of these agencies with different backgrounds and competences have
in their DNA ability to position the second edition of the collegiate football
among the best around the world.
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